Of Christmas Cookies, Kitchens and New Traditions
by RadientWings
Summary: When Felicity decided to bake some cookies for her and Oliver's first Christmas together, she really didn't think it would be that difficult. She certainly hadn't expected to have Oliver find her in a flour covered mess... Alas, she always knew kitchens were evil. Oneshot. Established Olicity. Holiday fluff.


**So this little oneshot was prompted to me by my friend Greti; I really wanted to write something short and sweet and she helped me come up with the idea ;) ****I know it's a little late, but here's some more seasonal cheer for you all ;) Hope you all had good holidays!**

**(Also, for the purposes of this story, Oliver eventually got his company and the Queen mansion back.)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Arrow, sadly enough. Though my sister give me season 2 on DVD for Christmas :)**

Of Christmas Cookies, Kitchens and New Traditions

Felicity Smoak had always known what she was good at. She was good with computers (fantastic, actually), great at math and science. She liked to think that she had a good sense of style, and she'd been told she had a nice singing voice. She was becoming better at defending herself (being on Team Arrow taught you a few things), both physically and emotionally. She was good at giving pep talks to those who needed it, and knowing when to do so.

She _wasn't_ particularly good at articulating herself when she was nervous… Or keeping her focus when there was a hot, shirtless man working out _five feet in front of her_.

However, there was only one thing she was absolutely and completely horrible at, and that, she had found, was _baking._

Or, well, anything to do in the kitchen, really. She was convinced they were places of pure evil, solely meant to torture her.

So, how she found herself in the _giant_ kitchen of the even more _giant_ Queen mansion, looking like a giant _idiot_ trying to bake a batch of 'simple' sugar cookies shaped like cute little Christmas trees and snowmen, only to end up covered in flour and who knows what else, she had no, freaking, _clue._

Oh, wait, yes she did. It was all Oliver's fault. Oliver Queen with his ridiculous abs and his killer smile and his gorgeous eyes. Billionaire Oliver Queen. Vigilante Oliver Queen.

Felicity's _boyfriend_ Oliver Queen.

It was said boyfriend's childhood memories and Christmas nostalgia that caused Felicity to want to make him happy and surprise him with the cookies he remembered having when he was younger. Apparently one of the few times that Moira had actually ever entered their kitchen was during the holiday season, and she used to make a huge batch of cookies (with the help of Raisa of course) for the family to decorate together. It was a tradition that had lasted even after her death between the two Queen siblings. However, this year Thea was off celebrating Christmas Eve with Roy in some tropical paradise that Oliver declined going to… He hadn't really gone on many holidays since he'd hooded up; crime didn't just stop with his departure.

So Felicity decided that she should try and make this holiday season as special as she could for him. Plus, this was going to be the first Christmas she ever celebrated with Oliver (or more accurately, the first Christmas she celebrated _ever_, because _hello_ Jewish), and she wanted to do it the way he remembered it, especially considering he'd been so great at celebrating Hanukah with her. Even now, there was a brand new menorah sitting next to the Christmas tree in the Queens' main living room.

Still, she should have known that these things tended not to go as planned for her. Instead of the fresh batch of cookies she wanted to have waiting for Oliver when he got home, she had the choice of goop or black, burnt… _things_. She doubted any of it was edible.

Felicity groaned, and let her head fall in her hands, remembering too late that her hands were even dirtier than the rest of her. _Why me?_

"You know, when you told me to go and check up on things at the club, I knew you were planning something, but I didn't know you were planning on setting a bomb off in the kitchen." A familiar voice said from behind her, clearly amused.

She let out another groan, cursing her luck. Of _course_ he had to come back early. She felt embarrassment settle in her stomach, her cheeks going completely red. She raised her hand to glance over at Oliver, who was standing in the doorway, looking handsome and unruffled as always. She tried not to wince when she glanced down at herself and saw the white splotches on her dress. _If that's what my clothes look like, I do _not_ want to know what my hair looks like right now. _

When she had the courage to meet his gaze again, she saw he was waiting for her to tell him what was going on, strong arms crossed over his equally strong chest. _Now is not the time to ogle your boyfriend, _Felicity immediately admonished herself, _just explain what happened to him rationally and I'm sure he won't laugh at you._

"This isn't what it looks like," was the first thing that came out of her mouth. This time she really did wince. _Of course I'm not even capable of that_. Oliver's lips twitched as he tried to fight back a wide smile. "I mean it _is_, but it isn't." Felicity attempted to explain again, only ending up digging herself a deeper hole. "If you think it looks like a bomb went off in here, that it isn't what it looks like. But if you think it looks like someone with no kitchen skills whatsoever tried to bake what were supposed to be very cute and yummy cookies for her boyfriend then _yes_ it is what it looks like. Though, to be fair, it _does_ look like something exploded in here so I understand why you'd go with the first one, but the stuff all over the counter is actually just very lumpy and not-tasty looking batter, so the joke's on you. I mean, it's not, it's clearly on me and-"

"Felicity." Suddenly there were hands on her waist. "_Breathe._"

She did as suggested and took a huge, gulping breath, before allowing herself to look up at Oliver, immediately noting the way his eyes were sparkling fondly at her, the small playing at his lips making him look years younger.

_He can look so deceptively adorable._

"Well, I do try." Oliver's reply made her realize she'd said last part aloud. Immediately her face felt like it had gone as red as a tomato, and she it probably had. _Really, we've been together for six months now, you'd think I'd stop being so flustered around him… I mean it's gotten somewhat better but still. Ugh._

When he noticed she seemed somewhat calmer, he smiled once more at her before taking one hand from her waist and wrapping his arm around her instead, allowing them to look over the mess she made. He reached over and grabbed one of the cookie cutters that was stuck in some of the 'batter'. He lifted the Christmas tree shaped cutter and looked at her in question.

"Christmas cookies? For me?" He asked, though she could tell he knew what she had been trying to do.

She nodded minutely, suddenly shy. "Well, yeah." She said, and she almost reached out to play with the lapels of his jacket like she would usually do when she got nervous with him close by, only to remember that her hands were still sticky with cookie ingredients. "I wanted to surprise you. Make this Christmas like the one you'd usually have had with your family."

He gently pushed some loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "Felicity, I can honestly tell you I never expected this Christmas to be like the ones I'd had before. For one, I've never celebrated Christmas _and_ Hanukah before, so that's been different. Good, but different." He smiled at her, one of his genuine smiles that other people so rarely saw. "And secondly," he pulled her flush to him, uncaring that she was covered in flour or that she'd let out an undignified squawk in response, "_secondly_, this is the first time I get to spend the holidays with the woman I love, so I knew it wouldn't be the same." At that she had to smile, especially when he moved even closer to lay his forehead against hers. Suddenly a mischievous light entered his eyes. "Though, I didn't expect you to break the kitchen either." He teased her.

"Hey!" Felicity exclaimed indignantly, pulling her head back to glare at him. "I didn't _break _it, I just… messed it up a little." _Not my fault cookies are apparently as evil as kitchens._

Oliver shook his head in amusement, still smiling as he abruptly spun her so her back was pressed into one of the counters, and then his lips were over hers as he pulled her into a searing kiss. She pushed up into him wrapping one arm around his neck to put them at a more even height, whilst the other reached behind her and onto the counter. She smiled triumphantly against his lips when her fingers touched what she was looking for.

In a sudden move, she swiped the handful of flour she'd managed to grab on the side of his face, down to the edge of his jaw. Oliver went slack jawed as he pulled back from her swiftly, for once taken completely by surprise.

"_That's _for making fun of me." She told him, trying to keep a straight face, though her shoulders were shaking with effort as she tried to keep her laughter down.

The scandalized look that spread across his face is what finally caused her to break out into a fit of giggles. Of course, this only caused his eyes to narrow in determination as he reached out for her. Felicity, knowing what was coming, somehow managed to dodge out of his way and run to the other side of the counter, still trembling with laughter. What ensued was a rather childish and unexpected game of chase, which ended up with Oliver catching her from behind and pulling her back into him, one arm around her waist and the other around her chest as he lifted her up and held her tight against him.

"Oliver!" Felicity gasped, out of breath, her stomach aching from all the laughing as she tried to get him to put her down.

"Truce?" He growled playfully into her ear, causing a shiver to go down her spine.

"Truce, truce! Now put me down you caveman!"

He obliged her and as soon as her feet were on the ground, he pressed his face into her neck, peppering kisses across the exposed skin of her throat. Unable to resist any longer, she tried to turn around only to have the arm that Oliver still had around her waist stop her. "Hey," she protested weakly, "I thought you said truce?"

"Did I?" He murmured into her neck, not moving an inch.

"Yeah you did, which means you have to let me go." She told him, trying keep the pleased sigh she felt building up in her chest in.

"Ok." He said, letting her go enough only to spin her around so his lips could land on hers, effectively silencing any more protests. This time Felicity allowed herself to melt into him, hands winding into his hair as his covered the small of her back, crushing her into chest.

Too soon he pulled back from her with a wicked grin. "You know, I actually _bought_ some sugar cookies to decorate earlier." Oliver told her casually, before leaning down to press another kiss to her lips.

"So you _did_ expect this!" Felicity accused when they separated again.

He still wore that infuriating grin of his that she staunchly denied affected her in any way. "Maybe just a little. You had your 'woman on a mission' look on earlier, and I knew it wasn't anything Arrow related, so I thought I'd invest in a contingency plan." He leaned in to try and steal another kiss but she turned her head in faux annoyance.

"Don't you have any faith in me?" She pouted, her fingers stroking the back of his neck in the way she knew he liked.

Oliver gave her a disbelieving look. "Felicity, you are a woman of many talents, but you and I both know there's a reason you usually don't go anywhere near the kitchen." He pecked her once to soften his words, though she knew he didn't mean it badly. _And he isn't lying. Kitchens and I don't exactly mesh. _"But, thank you, it means a lot that you'd brave one for me." He told her, that small tantalizing smile once again playing at his lips.

"There are a lot of things I'd brave for you, Oliver."

This time he kissed her forehead in a simple, caring gesture. She smiled widely; she always loved it when he did that. In response, she pressed a quick peck to the underside of his jaw, catching some flour on her lips. He wiped it gently away with his thumb, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"We could always start our own traditions." He suddenly suggested lowly, adjusting the grip he had around her waist so she was just that bit closer to him, eyes burning into hers.

"I can't say I don't like the sound of that." Felicity raised herself enough to catch his lips passionately with her own. They didn't talk for a while after, but one thing did manage to make it past her lips. "Huh, maybe kitchens aren't so bad after all."

Oliver just laughed and kissed her again.

FIN

**That's it! Hope you liked the dose of fluff ;) I needed to sooth some of the pain in my heart after the midseason finale :'(**

**For those who are waiting for updates on my other fics, I'm sorry to say this will be the last thing I'm posting until the end of January – I have exams so I'm going to be too busy until then. But after I plan on going on a fanfic binge, updating old stories and writing some more oneshots in both this fandom and others ;)**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**

**RW**


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